Jayakanthan was born in 1934 in a family of agriculturists in Cuddalore, in the South Arcot district of Tamil Nadu. He quit school after completing grade 3 education. He was then considered a problematic child. He was close to his mother and grandfather. He had a rocky relationship with his father. Unable to bear the harsh treatment meted out to him at home and in the village, he ran away from home at the age of 12 to Villupuram. There, he grew up under the aegis of his uncle from whom he imbibed communist ideologies and was also introduced to the works of Subramanya Bharathy. At this stage, his mother took him to Chennai and requested a friend/family member associated with Communist Party of India (CPI) to bring some sense to him for she was frustrated that he was a school dropout. It was here where Jayakanthan first worked as a minion in the CPI party office. Jayakanthan has written a lot about his days in the office and seems to cherish his boyhood days there. During this period, he became acquainted with some great CPI leaders of Tamil Nadu such as Mr. Jeeva Jeevanandam and Mr. Baladandayutham and many others. Thus, the CPI office in Chennai became his primary school, the members of the communist party his immediate family.Jayakanthan grew up listening to the discussions of these leftists during his formative years. It can be seen that this had a serious impact on his outlook and literary works. Jayakanthan once wrote that Mr. Jeeva was horrified to read his Tamil with full of grammar mistakes. This led to Jeeva offering the fee needed for proper education under a Tamil pandit. Thus he learned proper Tamil from a pandit. Later he moved around in various jobs forced by circumstances. He worked in the party's printing press and spent his evenings selling the magazine JanaSakthi on street corners. But in 1949, unexpected political developments resulted in extreme restrictions on the activities of the CPI. Jayakanthan was forced to work in a shoe shop in Thanjavur for a short period of time, after which he came back to Chennai. This period was an important phase for Jayakanthan as he found more time to think and read. During this period, the CPI also was eclipsed by the emergence of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the DK, whom Jayakanthan termed "fascists".Internal rifts within the CPI and his difference of opinion on many political issues forced him to gradually withdraw from CPI and active politics. His frustration with CPI can be seen through his short story "Karungali" (The traitor). Equally he broke ranks with his fellow Tamil writers in opposing E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) (a noted rationalist movement leader in Tamil Nadu) and his view of brahminism in Tamil Nadu. Only a personality like Jayakanthan who could have the courage and wisdom to oppose Mr. E.V. Ramasamy openly in a public forum. Jayakanthan was greatly praised for his public speech in Tiruchi. Before this, he also tested waters in other political philosophies including Congress. He was fascinated with the former Chief Minister and Congress party leader Kamaraj and briefly served as a member of that party and actively compaigned for him and his party members during election time.He worked as an editor of two politicized daily journals "Jaya berighai" and "Jaya kodi" in leanings towards Congress party in later 60's He also served as the editor of "Nava-Shakthi" a daily with leanings towards Congress party philosophy.